Finding ways to get into local music

If you spend a lot of time in the Twin Cities, it’s easy to get involved in the local music scene. St. Paul and Minneapolis are home to many great hip hop artists, rock bands, and indie projects. Minnesota is also native land to artists that are well-known nationwide, including the late Prince, Atmosphere, and Bob Dylan.

In Lakeville, we may be a bit farther away from the Twin Cities, and it may seem a lot harder to find music. But there’s still a thriving local music scene to get involved in if you know where to look.

In historic downtown Lakeville, there’s a sports bar called Babe’s Music Bar, which frequently features live music. Sometimes they have bands perform, but they also have open mic nights, where anyone who wants to has an opportunity to showcase their music. However this is more popular with older adults.

The Garage, a non-profit venue in Burnsville, is popular with teenagers and young adults. Their shows are always for all-ages and feature a variety of amazing local music. This venue also hosts workshops for people wanting to work on their music, and internships for people interested in music or music journalism.

The Garage hosts shows very frequently, and it’s not expensive—although some acts may cost different amounts based on how big the bands are that are performing.

Senior Madi Moorhouse is very into the music scene and has gone to multiple shows at the Garage.

“My favorite thing about the garage is the easy access,” Moorhouse said. “It’s close to my home and it’s only ten minutes away, unlike Minneapolis which is a pain to get to.”

The Garage isn’t only close to home but it’s a great, intimate setting. You get to talk to the bands you liked and get to know other people who like music as much as you do.

“It’s just the right size for many people to fit and still be able to see the artist(s) on stage,” Moorhouse said.

Another reason she’s a fan of the Garage is how much you get for the price.

“The tickets are reasonably priced compared to other venues downtown, and I also like how it is a community venue where they connect with their customers and artists.”

The Garage is a great place to get to know your local artists, but for the most part they’re not widely known, so they don’t often get widespread recognition.

“Local artists don’t get the promotion and advertisement,” Moorhouse said, “so I think a lot of people just don’t hear about it and don’t necessarily get into it.”

However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get involved with and Moorhouse has an opinion on how to do so.

“I think to really get into local music and be interspersed throughout the community you have to go to the shows and interact with the fans and the artists,” Moorhouse said.

Music is a large part of many high schooler’s life. Lots of students are very into the local music scene; it’s not just a way to kill time, it has an entire community and culture of artists connecting with fans, and friends introducing each other to music. Moorhouse says many people get into music when they “have a friend connected in the community or one of your friends introduces you to local music and local bands/artists.”